For more than 20 years, Leadership Initiatives has partnered with outstanding high school students to gain real-world experience, explore future careers, and develop critical skills to create the next generation of leaders worldwide. As a nonprofit organization, we are proud to offer real internships that impact the lives of students and the individuals they are partnered with.  

Leadership Initiatives offers the leading experiential education programs for high school students with endorsements from the Microsoft Youthspark Program, the Starbucks Foundation, the International Youth Foundation, GlobalGiving, PrepScholar, and the Future First Foundation.

Join us today and start an internship with a business in the developing world, work with an attorney on an impending court case of national importance, develop anti-terrorism security strategies or partner with a doctor to diagnose patients in sub-Saharan Africa.

Leadership Initiatives has created nine first-of-their-kind programs for high school students who want to develop their leadership skills, gain real-world job experience, and change lives around the world.

The Criminal Law & Trial Internship and The Advanced Law & Justice Reform Internship partners students with a D.C. law firm for an accelerated law internship to work on real court cases of national importance.

The Advanced Medical & Public Health Internship and the Advanced Medical Neuroscience Internship allows students to work with real patients and receive medical training from medical experts and Howard University.

The International Leadership & Business Internship pairs students with real-world businesses in developing countries, helping them build essential, targeted business skills and hands-on experience.

The National Security & Diplomacy Internship connects students with a leading security firm in West Africa, where they collaborate with former FBI and military leaders to develop security solutions for Yobe State University. The university has been targeted multiple times by the international terrorist group Boko Haram since 2015.

The Cybersecurity & Defense Internship gives students the opportunity to work closely with cybersecurity experts, learn about the latest innovations in cyber-attack prevention such as NMAP and Metasploit, and apply these tools to protect a startup business.

We care a great deal about our students and their success. In addition to encountering some of the most memorable and unprecedented experiences, we also prepare students for college and professional life like no other program out there through our exclusive benefits:

• • One-on-one mentor time from Leadership Initiatives mentorship pool

  • 5:1 student-staff ratio

  • Leading experts from top companies, law firms, hospitals, and universities

  • Free ACT/SAT training from PrepScholar

  • Scholarship search assistance

  • Unlimited college application essays – reviewed and edited

  • 3 scholarship application essays – reviewed and edited

  • Choose your own adventure tours of embassies, businesses, medical institutes, and legal sites

  • Admissions counseling from Ivy League admissions experts

Nominations for each program can be submitted through our nomination page. We examine all nominations on a case by case basis. Students are allowed to self-nominate but we will need an official recommendation from a teacher, school official, or principal before you can be admitted to the program. If you are selected, you will be notified accordingly.

You can sign up for our Summer Internship Programs on our Enrollment Page.

After you have completed the enrollment process and made the initial deposit for the program, you will receive an email containing a confirmation of your enrollment, materials needed to attend the program, and more information about the program you enrolled in. If you enrolled using a payment plan, more information about the payments will be included in the email. If you did not receive a confirmation email or received one in error, please contact registration@lichange.org and the issue will be promptly resolved.

If your first choice for a program date is full, please email registration@lichange.org and let them know that you would like to be placed on the waiting list. All students on the waiting list will be contacted on a first come first serve basis when and if space becomes available.

Leadership Initiatives operates on rolling admissions. We continue to evaluate applications as long as space is available. Because many of our sessions fill by the middle of February, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to ensure your first choice of program and session.

If you would like to attend but do not think you will be available for the available sessions, please contact us at registration@lichange.org and we can review additional programming options. 

The following cancellation fees apply once the student has enrolled in our summer programs.

Cancellation Period	Total Cancellation Fee
Enrolled For Less Than 72 Hours	Program Deposit
Enrolled for Less than 2 Weeks	$200
Enrolled For More Than Two Weeks	$500
Enrolled For More Than Four Weeks	Entire Tuition

* If any college application benefits are used (PrepScholar ACT/SAT prep, college essay assistance, college admissions assistance, mentoring program) participants are subject to a $500 cancellation fee.

Leadership Initiatives strives to make our programs accessible for all students. Our flexible cancellation policy allows students to cancel program attendance for any reason with a notice of 20 days before their selected program begins. Students that need to cancel their attendance for a program will receive credit for the amount they paid which can be used to attend another program during the summer of 2025. Students can also choose to defer their attendance until the following year.

2026 In-Person Program	Dates	Price
Advanced Law & Justice Reform Internship	July 12th - July 18th, 2026	$3800
Advanced Medical & Public Health Internship	June 28th - July 4th, 2026 July 5th - July 11th, 2026 July 12th - July 18th, 2026 July 19th - July 25th, 2026 July 26th - August 1st, 2026	$3500
Advanced Medical Neuroscience Internship	June 28th - July 4th, 2026 July 5th - July 11th, 2026 July 12th - July 18th, 2026	$4000
AI & Emerging Technology Internship	July 5th - July 11th, 2026	$4000
Criminal Law & Trial Internship	July 19th - July 25th, 2026 July 26th - August 1st, 2026	$3500
Cybersecurity & Defense Internship	July 12th - July 18th, 2026 July 19th - July 25th, 2026	$3500
International Leadership & Business Internship	June 28th - July 4th, 2026 July 5th - July 11th, 2026 July 12th - July 18th, 2026 July 19th - July 25th, 2026 July 26th - August 1st, 2026	$3500
Jumpstart Program	June 28th - July 4th, 2026	$3500
National Security & Diplomacy Internship	July 26th - August 1st, 2026	$3500

Tuition for our program is all-inclusive. 

During the program tuition includes:

Leadership Initiatives offers a variety of flexible options to pay for program tuition. These payment options range from paying in full at the time of enrollment to a twelve-month, zero-interest payment plan. Below are all payment options.

Pay in full: Program participants can opt to pay 100% of the tuition cost in one single payment at the time of enrolling. The tuition amount is typically charged within 72 hours of enrollment. A $150 tuition discount is applied for participants who opt to pay in full.

Payment Plans: Program participants can also pay for tuition in zero-interest monthly payments. These payment plans allow participants to pay in evenly-distributed payments over an agreed period of time. LI’s payment plans are not a loan from a financial institution or bank but do require the completion of a repayment agreement. Three, six, nine, and twelve-month payment plans are available. Participants can opt to pay the entirety of their remaining tuition balance off at any point during the payment period. Additional discounts are available for certain payment plans (see below).

Payment Discounts

Pay in full: Receive an additional $150 off the program tuition
3-Month Payment Plan: Receive an additional $75 off the program tuition
6-Month Payment Plan: Receive an additional $50 off the program tuition
9 or 12-Month Payment Plan: No additional discount

Once enrolled, the student will have immediate access to one year of PrepScholar SAT or ACT training, college application, essay editing and access to our mentorship program is made available within three business days.

As a 501(c)3 Non-profit all Leadership Initiatives programs are heavily subsidized by our sponsors allowing us to offer programs with academic benefits at a lower cost than for-profit institutions who do not offer them.

For our 2025 Summer Internship Programs, we received additional funding opportunities from our sponsors, which include Microsoft’s Youthspark program, the Starbucks Foundation, GlobalGiving, the International Youth Foundation, PrepScholar, and the Future First Foundation.

We have over $500,000 in grant money to put towards scholarship assistance for students across the nation.

This scholarship assistance will be given in the form of $500.00 Future Leaders Mentorship Scholarships. We currently have 300 Future Leader Mentorship Scholarships available on a first-come basis. These scholarships have been divided amongst our six development programs.

If you are interested in claiming one of these scholarships please register today so we can apply it towards your cost of tuition immediately.

Please Note Our Scholarships Do Not Stack. This means you cannot receive more than one scholarship to attend our summer programs.

Student safety and supervision is our number one priority at Leadership Initiatives, and we maintain a uniquely low student-to-staff ratio of five-to-one, which not only allows more individualized time but also a far more manageable cohort. Our trained staff ensure that students are accounted for at all times through multiple check-ins throughout the day. Students are required to attend all group activities and seminars.

Gaining independence, including experiencing new things on your own, is an essential part of your growth during the program. So, your parents or guardians are not allowed to accompany you. However, it is perfectly fine for your family to travel with you to the program location and stay in the area while you are attending the program.

It is the decided opinion of Leadership Initiatives that all current students behave in a manner befitting a mature and responsible citizen. These include traits such as honesty, fairness, integrity, personal responsibility, being trustworthy, and having respect for others. Members of the learning community will be expected to abide by this code of conduct as a commitment to serve as responsible stewards of not only Leadership Initiatives but their community and country respectively. Leadership Initiatives reserves the right to remove any student that does not demonstrate these qualities.

We believe our students should dress for their potential and in preparation for the types of activities they will be experiencing. Because the slate of LI Summer Internship Program’s activities carries with it many unique opportunities to powerfully shape the future of our students, we want to make sure students dress the part. View our dress code policy here.

Professional attire means suits, sport coats/jackets, slacks/dress pants, skirts or dresses that are coordinated and at least fingertip length when arms are at sides, blouses, sweaters, ties, etc. Shoulders should be covered. If there is any doubt whether or not your outfit makes the cut, you should probably change your outfit.

Semi-professional attire includes much of the above-mentioned clothing with the addition of khaki pants, polo/golf shirts, button-down shirts, blouses, and sweaters. Shoulders should be covered at all times.

Casual dress includes khaki/golf shorts, jeans in good condition (no rips or tears), sweatshirts, t-shirts, sneakers, sandals, capri pants, and skirts. Shoulders should remain covered at all times.